Lonely serial killer and film smarty Harry S. Plinkett reviews the Star Wars prequels: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. Trenchant analysis aside, current favorite segments are his love advice to Anakin and “Citizen Vader”–starts here and continues. (Trigger warning for those sensitive to ladies held captive in basements [...]
David Bordwell tells the story of digital projection, 3D and how James Cameron lobbied theaters to buy the technology to show the films he wants to make. Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan wants to save 35mm film. (Thanks, Kimberly Lindbergs!)
David DeMoss writes about George Lucas’ film Tuskegee Airmen film, Red Tails, and “unlike every other reformed Lucasfilm fan in existence, [his] dread came with its own personal baggage.” His grandfather was one of the Airmen.
As a follow up to “The Yellow Curse,” Grady Hendrix has posted a gallery of images offering a tour of racist stereotypes of Chinese people from 1881 to the present.
Olympic fencer, sword master, stunt choreographer, performer and actor, Bob Anderson has died. Anderson performed Darth Vader’s lightsaber battles in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Her served as sword master, fight coordinator and stunt performer in films such as 1953′s The Master of Ballantrae featuring a swashbuckling Errol Flynn, The Princess [...]
Imprisoned in one room for 20 years, George Lucas wants revenge. (Thanks, John!)
Star Wars Episodes IV-VI compared, simultaneously and in their entirety. Watch while it’s available. (via August Ragone)
The Secret History of Star Wars writes about Marcia Lucas, the woman who made Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi better. (via Geek Tyrant and Mike White!)
Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance and Star Wars. (Thanks, B-Sol!)
Irvin Kershner has died. He directed The Empire Strikes Back, Robocop 2, Eyes of Laura Mars and The Raid on Entebbe. Vanity Fair recently posted an interview with him about working on Star Wars. Agence France-Presse has a report. Film School Rejects has 5 great Kershner films besides The Empire Strikes Back.
Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back producer Gary Kurtz is profiled at the L.A. Times. He has some things to say about the franchise and toys.
The Empire Strikes Back vs. Raiders of the Lost Ark–which is the greatest summer movie of all time? Make your voice heard.
The B-masters confess movies they haven’t seen. “My viewing of Zombie Lake was one of those events that lead you to question everything in your life that has lead up to it. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it was a “where did I go wrong” moment, because many of the choices that brought me to [...]
Slate‘s Keith Phipps sat through Howard the Duck and lived to be sad about it. “Howard the Duck, the movie, is as bad as you’ve heard. Actually, it’s worse. But its failings as a film have overshadowed the frequently brilliant 1970s comic book that inspired it.”
1. Overture IslandOn December 4, 2008, the future ended. The event that marked its end was the death of a 92-year old man from the not uncommon cause of heart failure. It would not have been an epoch-ending event save for one detail: the man’s name was Forest J Ackerman.
When people find out that I like science fiction (and write about it), they often try to find a familiar example to talk about. This is a better reaction than to say, “Oh, that crap?” or something along those lines. But recently, the example has inevitably been Star Wars — and what was up to [...]
